Ficlet February
by Luna Darkside
Summary: Day 28: Shinichi isn't falling in love with Kaito. Falling implies plummeting to a lower place. Being in love with Kaito is the exact opposite. /ShinKai, 28/28, daily ficlets for every day of February, complete/
1. Cold

**Cold**

"So do you want to go out today?" Kaito asked, leaning over Shinichi's desk in their shared dormitory with a grin in place. "It _is _your birthday after all." He tapped a pen lightly against Shinichi's arm before setting it back down. "Are you listening?"

The detective, who was flipping through a packet of papers with a rather scary scowl on his face, spared him half a glance. "Of course. Um… sorry, but today's not really good for me. It's… Sorry." His grimace deepened as he positively glared down at the text on the page, seemingly frustrated. He turned it over, eyes flickering over the backside.

Kaito, about to protest, paused to peer down curiously at the papers. "What's that?"

"Case file," Shinichi grunted. "Hey, you've got your debut magic show tonight, right?"

"Yes, at eight." Kaito raked back his hair, feeling a wave of irritation wash over him. He'd been planning to finally get some alone time with Shinichi on Shinichi's birthday, a few hours, even, but it appeared the detective himself was going to foil that. "How is that related to right now? It's only," he checked his watch, "one in the afternoon. Come _on_, Kudou."

Shinichi waved him off, glaring down hard at the case file. "This isn't going to work," he muttered darkly to himself before rising and snapping the folder shut. "Look, I'm sorry, Kuroba, but this case is really, _really _important. You understand, right? I'll make it up to you sometime, okay?"

"Kudou…" Kaito glared as Shinichi nearly ran from the room with the file tucked under his arm. "Damn bastard," he swore under his breath, nettled, as he sat down on his bed with a thump. "Does he think cases are more important than people or something?"

Only later did Kaito find out that Shinichi's case had involved a serial killer who targeted aspiring magicians at their debut shows.

* * *

Welcome, everyone I managed to ensnare, to Ficlet February! Basically, I will be posting a ficlet (not a drabble, because as I've been corrected many, many times, drabbles are exactly 100 words. Although technically, these aren't actually ficlets either. OTL) every day of February, to celebrate the "month of love." (Ha ha, as if.)

This is the project I've mentioned before and the reason I haven't been updating quite as much recently. I've been writing 28 ficlets over the course of a veeery busy couple of weeks. /sigh

Anyway, these will range anywhere from 300-800 words with a variety of styles and categories. There's one two-part story, I think, about three or four all-dialogue ones, a couple of introspective little bits, the like.

They also vary in relationship – there's, like, one where they haven't met, but the majority of them are "in love but not saying anything" or established. Just about all of them are at least vaguely fluffy, as that's just about all I can write, but there are some very T-rated ones and, gasp!, even a few hurt/comfort ones. I got pretty close to angst about twice as well.

Well, hopefully this will be entertaining. Stick around! - Luna


	2. Personal Space

**Personal Space**

"Where is it?" grumbled Kaito, glaring up at the bookshelf. He was supposed to borrow Shinichi's copy of _The Sign of Four _under the detective's order and because "there's no way that a stupid thief like Arsene Lupin is better than Holmes!"

"It should be on the top shelf," Shinichi called as he entered, the tray holding two cups of coffee (one so sugary and milky that it barely could be called coffee, the other black with one sugar) rattling as he set it down on the edge of his desk. He plopped down in the desk chair, arching an eyebrow as he observed Kaito. "Having trouble?"

"Of course not," snapped Kaito, planting his hands on his hips as he stared at the top shelf. "Why are the names all in English?" he muttered.

Shinichi, apparently hearing him, answered, "Only the big titles are. They're written in Japanese underneath, if you haven't noticed."

"I did notice, but I can't read them from this angle," Kaito explained with a sigh, eyebrows scrunching together. "_The… _no, that says 'A Study in Scarlet'…" Kaito murmured to himself, running a finger over the spines as he struggled to decode the English.

The room's owner watched wordlessly for a few seconds before he groaned and stood up. Kaito froze when Shinichi pressed up against him, his chest flush against Kaito's back.

The detective's breath was warm against the back of Kaito's neck as he scanned the titles. Kaito felt his face heating up. _He was too damn close_ –

"Here," Shinichi whispered, and Kaito nearly shivered at the sound of his voice, breathy and soft, beside his ear. He reached up, his arm brushing against Kaito's, as he pulled one of the books off the shelf. "It's this one."

He handed it to Kaito and trotted back to his desk, leaving Kaito with one hand clutching _The Sign of Four _and the other pressed against his frantically beating heart.

* * *

And I even managed to slip in a reference to _Coffee _(next chapter)_._ /pats self on back proudly


	3. Coffee

**Coffee**

Kudou Shinichi always takes his coffee black. No sugar, no cream, nothing, just straight-up coffee. It's something he almost takes pride in, that he can take the bitterness and the strength and the heat. It can easily become a metaphor for life if he tries to find some deeper meaning, but Shinichi doesn't generally do that because why would he, anyway, juggling murders and death threats and serial killers?

When Shinichi spots an oddly familiar indigo-eyed man in Poirot for the first time as he's diligently working through a case file with a cup of black coffee, he's surprised to find that the other is on the other side of the spectrum.

He watches with subtle glances as the stranger tears open packet after packet of sugar and stirs it into his cup, then pours in almost the entire little pitcher of cream by the saucer. Shinichi is aghast at how light the color turns.

Well, yes, he's known that most people don't take their coffee black like he does, but he hasn't considered that people feel the need to turn their coffee into supersaturated solutions of sugar. Ran always takes hers with cream and two sugars, enough to take the edge off and then some. Hattori takes his with cream, no sugar. His mother – cream and three sugars, his father – no cream and one sugar.

No one Shinichi knows takes as much cream or sugar as this man.

Shinichi pauses, though, to think, as he watches him. As far as Shinichi can tell (which is pretty far, considering how good he is at deducing) the man is no stranger to unpleasantness or grief or life's many difficulties, judging from the fall of his step as he stands to go to the bathroom (stressed, a slight limp from an accident) and the shadows underneath his eyes (darker than average, less sleep than usual).

But he has this sort of oddly bright air to him, something that seems to say _yes, the world's a dark, bitter place, but that's okay because there's always the sweeter, lighter side_, and that intrigues Shinichi.

For the first time in his life, Shinichi adds sugar to his coffee.

* * *

For the record, I'm with Hattori on this one. Cream, no sugar.

Also, no, the way you take your coffee has no relation to your outlook on life. This was pretty much filler because I ran out of ideas. Yeah.


	4. Lullaby

**Lullaby**

Everyone knew Shinichi couldn't hold a tune to save his life.

It was common knowledge, really. After that… incident where Kaito had tried to get him to serenade Ran in a misguided attempt to get them together, most everyone who knew Shinichi associated him with "tone deaf."

Kaito wondered why, exactly, he was thinking about Shinichi's tone deafness as he lay in bed, his throat dry and his head aching. He shivered violently, the covers somehow simultaneously too cold and too hot.

He'd been bedridden since… a day ago? A few hours ago? Kaito didn't actually know, to be honest. When he returned from his last heist, he had collapsed in bed and hadn't moved since, listening to the sound of his own coughs bouncing back at him.

Ick.

Kaito was sure his head was about to implode when he heard the faraway sound of the front door opening hesitantly. Great. Just what he needed, a robber.

The footsteps paused in the front entry, tentative, before clopping towards Kaito's room. Fabulous.

There was a light tap on the door – a polite robber? – before it yawned open to reveal Shinichi standing in the doorframe, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "Uh, Kuroba?"

"Mm?" Kaito frowned. Was he hallucinating? He didn't think he was _that _delirious, even if his fever was probably of a high enough degree to boil water.

…So maybe he was hallucinating?

"God, I hate it when I'm right," Shinichi muttered as he crossed the room, stopping at Kaito's bedside.

Kaito cracked a smile. "As if," he croaked, his tongue so dry it felt as if it was grating against the roof of his mouth.

"True," Shinichi conceded. "I thought you looked off at the heist, and I was right." A cool hand ghosted across Kaito's forehead, and the detective sighed. "You're burning up, you know. Like, quite a bit."

"You could tell me how hot I am in a nicer way," Kaito grinned weakly, and Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm going to go get you some water and medicine. You keep your medicine… where, now?"

"Cabinet," Kaito rasped, and Shinichi nodded before disappearing back out of the room.

A few minutes (maybe hours?) passed before Shinichi returned, glass of water and cold medicine in hand. He helped Kaito into a sitting position and supervised Kaito's swallowing carefully before laying him back down gently.

Coughing, Kaito rolled onto his side, shutting his eyes. "Ugh."

"Can't sleep?" asked Shinichi sympathetically from behind him.

"Nope."

There was a quick moment of silence before the bed creaked and something rustled, sliding underneath the blankets.

Startled, Kaito managed a confused, "What –" before Shinichi slung an arm around his shoulders, gripping his shoulder gently.

"Shhh," hushed Shinichi softly, rubbing his arm calmly.

Blinking, Kaito remained motionless. Because this was certainly odd behavior coming from _Shinichi_ of all people – who knew _this _was his bedside manner?

"Er…" he stuttered before he lapsed into coughs.

"Shh," Shinichi repeated, and Kaito gave up on trying to talk, breathing raggedly.

It was then that Shinichi began to hum – a slow, quiet tune, somehow comforting to Kaito's fevered brain. The notes carried well in the close quarters, endless and smooth and _sweet_, and Kaito felt his eyelids slipping down as he relaxed.

The last thing Kaito thought before he fell asleep was that for a hopelessly tone deaf person, Shinichi could hum a pretty good lullaby.

* * *

I myself am sick right now, and let me tell you, if I had a Shinichi around to hum me lullabies, I could probably _more_ than deal with it. /creepy smile


	5. Insecurites

**Insecurities**

Pillow talk was nice, of course, but Kaito honestly preferred the morning after.

Not for (God forbid) one night stands or anything, where it would inevitably mean someone would have to struggle out of bed and flee the house to escape the awkwardness of having the, "Oh, so you're the person I slept with after twelve shots last night" conversation. Mornings after, in that case, were positively terrible, though technically, Kaito couldn't really say much, considering he'd only ever experienced one. And with the very person who later on made them so perfect, nonetheless.

Kaito liked waking up wrapped up in Shinichi's sheets as well as the detective himself, enveloped in Shinichi's arms with his fingers laced through Shinichi's hair and Shinichi's lips (those perfect goddamn lips would be the death of him one day, Kaito swore) up against his cheekbone. Not only was that nice, but if Kaito happened to wake up early, he got the amazing spectacle that was a groggy, half-asleep Kudou Shinichi, one that was adorably honest.

It wasn't as if Shinichi lied a lot or hid his feelings or anything, but it never failed to surprise Kaito to hear him speaking so plainly, without a drop of ulterior motives or subterfuge. He was just so... unabashed.

And honestly, sometimes Kaito needed some straight confessions because Shinichi was a gorgeous, extraordinarily talented detective and Kaito always wondered why he'd pick a thief, a _criminal _like Kaito. It stung a little.

This particular morning, Kaito was glad he'd woken up earlier than Shinichi. Yesterday Ran had come over, all pretty pink and beautiful and a _girl_, and Kaito had felt a spark of jealousy at her and Shinichi's comfortable, familiar interactions. He _knew _Ran was just Shinichi's childhood friend – he kept telling himself that, but…

Shaking off the thoughts, Kaito whispered, "Hey, Shinichi?" into the morning stillness, gently moving Shinichi's hand off his hipbone. This was not a time for that kind of (pleasant) distraction.

"Mmph." Shinichi mumbled something else, probably a complaint, and returned his hand to Kaito's hip, pressing harder to pull Kaito in closer and making the magician flush. "What?" He was still clearly sleeping, and Kaito bit back an affectionate smile.

"Are you awake?"

"Of course not, idiot thief," muttered Shinichi, rolling a little so he was facing Kaito more directly, though his eyes were still firmly shut.

"Right, I'll believe that," Kaito said, rolling his eyes fondly. He cleared his throat, feeling the slightest hint of apprehension stir in his stomach. He didn't like voicing his stupid insecurities out loud because he _knew _they were stupid and he knew that Shinichi would only stare at him if he was awake, but...

"I was just wondering... Shinichi, are you in love with Mouri-chan?"

"Mouri… oh, Ran?" Shinichi's eyes flitted from side to side underneath his eyelids, and he tugged Kaito in tighter. "Hell no. She's getting married."

"No, she isn't," Kaito disagreed in moderate confusion. "Hondou-kun hasn't proposed to her."

"Well, they're going to get married anyway. Someday," grunted Shinichi, exhaling sleepily.

"Then... if you're not in love with Ran, who is it?"

"You know the answer to that, Kai-chan," Shinichi grumbled, scowling just the slightest bit. Kaito went a little pink at the nickname – a fully awake Shinichi would _not _call him Kai-chan. Ever.

"I guess I'm supposed to know," Kaito remarked wistfully. _But it's hard sometimes..._

Shinichi exhaled. "Ugh. If you must know, I'm _head-over-heels_ for you, Kuroba Kaito. Stop being all stupid about it and go back to sleep," he said, sinking back down into the pillow.

Kaito couldn't hold back the grin that overtook his face. "Right. Sorry, I'll go back to sleep."

Once he was sure Kaito wasn't looking at him anymore, Shinichi opened fully awake eyes and smiled down at the top of the sleeping magician's head. Kaito certainly could be insecure sometimes, couldn't he?

Well, it was good to know Shinichi wasn't the only one.

* * *

A slightly longer one for today. /smiles brightly


	6. Bunk Beds

**Bunk Beds**

Mouri Ran was humming as she half-floated down the wood-lined hallway. Wasn't this a great idea, to go camping and rent a cabin for the whole gang? Especially because Shinichi had finally brought his mysterious new best friend, an amateur magician named Kuroba Kaito, as well as Kaito's other friends, Nakamori Aoko and her boyfriend Hakuba Saguru along.

She sighed contentedly as she skipped around a corner. It was so _good _to see Shinichi making friends. Ever since his return, she had felt they'd been drifting apart as she starting going out with Eisuke, who'd returned from America, and she couldn't bear the thought of Shinichi becoming some sort of mystery-obsessed recluse. Clearly this Kaito person was good for Shinichi, especially with that mischievous little sparkle in his eye. Shinichi needed some of that magic.

At the moment, Ran was planning on surprising Shinichi and Kaito, who were rooming together, and helping them unpack. They were the only two in the whole group who weren't a couple, so it made sense. "Let's see..." She counted doors - three, four, five - until she reached the one they'd been assigned. She was about to raise her hand and knock when a snatch of conversation drifted through the door.

"...should be on top." That was Shinichi's voice, Ran was sure of it. She wrinkled her brow.

"Why?" And that was Kaito's voice, unexpectedly petulant.

"Because I'm bigger than you."

"By what, two inches?"

"Two inches is a lot!"

"No it isn't. And that logic doesn't make sense, anyway." There was the sound of shuffling. "Haven't you done this before?"

"Mm... yes, once before with Hattori."

"What were you _that _time?"

"...I was bottom."

"So why are you complaining now?!"

"Look, Kaito, Hattori was three feet taller than me at the time. I wasn't in a place to argue. It was 'for my safety' anyway."

"Taking advantage of a child like that? Just so you get to have more fun?" A disapproving cluck. "Hattori really is a terrible person."

"That's not the point right now, anyway. I should be on top. At least tonight."

"What, we're switching now?"

"We could if you want to that much."

'Well..." Kaito was hesitant. "Isn't that a bit of work? If I'm on bottom, I'll just get used to it anyway."

"Honestly, Kaito, if you really care, I'll take bottom. I just think it's safer, to be honest, to be on bottom." There was a surprising amount of concern in Shinichi's voice.

"Maybe, but I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself." Kaito's voice softened. "But if it makes you happy, Shinichi..."

"Thank you." Vast relief flooded his tone. "So, do you want to get ready now...?"

Ran stared at the door, mouth open, before turning and hurrying as fast as she could back down the hall, face flaming. She made a mental note to avoid eye contact with both Shinichi and Kaito-kun for the rest of the trip.

Meanwhile, Shinichi was grumbling to himself as he struggled to climb up the side of the bunk beds and place his pillow on the top bunk. "Ugh. I hate top."

"Then why are you taking it?" asked Kaito, fluffing up his own pillow on the bottom bunk. "I thought it looked more fun."

"Because you move around in your sleep," snapped Shinichi, straining his arms to reach and ending up just hoisting himself onto the bed. "You'd probably roll right off and break your arm or something."

"My, my, tantei-kun, you're always looking out for me," Kaito remarked, smirking, and Shinichi leaned over the edge of the top bunk to smile back at him.

"Damn straight I am, idiot thief," he agreed before pressing a kiss to Kaito's lips.

* * *

Ah, I love innuendo!fics. /contented sigh


	7. Illegal, part 1

**Illegal, part 1**

_[Shinichi's side]_

"You know, Shinichi, you've been staring at that man ever since we got here." Ran narrowed her suspiciously eyes at her best friend as she took a dainty sip from her glass. Aforementioned best friend did not move, only continuing to eye what he could see of the slender, indigo-eyed man with messy hair who was sitting at the bar with a few others. Ran rolled her eyes and elbowed him hard between the ribs.

Shinichi, starting, looked around frantically before his eyes fell on her. "Who? What?" he stammered in confusion, scowling deeply at her.

When she raised her eyebrows inquiringly, he flushed, trying to hide it behind the rim of his glass. "I just think that guy's sort of…" He trailed off, and Ran's eyebrows climbed higher.

"Are you saying he's your, uh… _type_ or something?" she asked incredulously, setting her glass down on the table hard. "Have you had too much to drink, Shinichi?"

"Er…" Shinichi blinked down the glass hanging limply from his hand as if seeing it for the first time. "Come to think of it, this is my… eighth?"

Shaking her head, Ran sat back. "Here I was trying to take you out for a consolation drink after our horrendous breakup, and now I'm finding out that you don't even like girls." She rolled her eyes. "Not sure our breakup was that horrendous anymore."

Shinichi coughed. "No, I like girls, just…" His gaze flashed over at the man, who was glaring at one of his companions – a blond man who wore a severely smug smirk. "I don't know, Ran, he's just…" He sighed into his glass, looking dangerously lovelorn, and Ran's eyes nearly bugged out, because this was stoic Kudou Shinichi who had impassively said, "I understand," when she tearfully and violently screamed a rant about why they should break up _sighing over some random guy._

"He's just what?" Ran prompted, both horrified and intrigued by the prospect of discovering what he meant.

"He's…" Shinichi swallowed and set down his glass, resting his head on his hands as he continued to observe the man, "…illegally attractive." His brow knit for a second before he rephrased it. "He is attractive to the point that it should be illegal."

Ran blinked a total of twelve times before she slowly said, "Right, I understand. I'm going to go call Eisuke-kun to pick me up. You, just, uh…" She patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. "Go talk to Mr. Illegally Attractive."

"And say what?" demanded Shinichi, frowning at her.

Restraining a smirk, Ran airily replied, "Oh, just go tell him he's illegally attractive. I'm sure that'll work on him."

As she dropped bills on the table and headed for the door, she almost missed the low, "You know what? I think I might," that followed her.

_[end Shinichi's side]_

* * *

Would've uploaded this earlier, but for some reason FF was down...? It wasn't connecting, at least.

Basically, I was thinking, "You know, Shinichi would be terrible at pickup lines. What would he do, say something about murder or criminal justice or something?"

Thus, I came up with a terrible pickup line (that shall be revealed tomorrow). It is literally the worst pickup line, like, ever, which leads me to cringe whenever I read today and tomorrow's ficlets. /cringes


	8. Illegal, part 2

**Illegal, part 2**

_[Kaito's side]_

Kaito had felt eyes on him from the second he'd stepped into the bar, but finding that those eyes belonged to a rather good-looking man had been a surprise.

From the few surreptitious looks Kaito had managed to steal of the man when the man's attention was diverted, he had discovered that, rather unfortunately, the man appeared to be with his girlfriend.

It was somewhat disappointing.

However, Kaito could still appreciate the sleek stretch of long legs underneath the table and the way the cobalt shirt pulled the azure out of lash-framed irises…

…

Really, really quite disappointing that he was there with his girlfriend.

"He's still looking at you," Aoko remarked bemusedly, glancing at the stranger. "Oh, his girlfriend's leaving now. He's downing his drink – I wonder how drunk he is, that's like, his ninth tonight –"

"I don't need a blow by blow account of what he's doing, Aoko," Kaito muttered, taking a long sip of his drink. "It's not like anything's going to come of it."

"You sound as if you want something to," commented Hakuba from where he sat beside Aoko, and Kaito glared.

Meanwhile, Aoko was squinting hard at the man, dropping all pretense of secrecy. "He's co – Kaito, he's coming over here –" Aoko stuttered to an abrupt stop, and Kaito felt a shadow fall over his shoulder. He glanced up, straight into the face of his… watcher? Admirer? Stalker?

Almost choking, Kaito nearly dropped his glass as he flinched. "Oh. Hi." He blinked because _damn_ this guy was even sexier than he'd thought. He hadn't thought that was possible. Seriously, wow.

…Or it could be the alcohol talking, but Kaito preferred to think that the guy was actually attractive.

The man appeared to be similarly shocked (Kaito wondered why) for a second before he cleared his throat and smiled, rearranging his dazed features into a highly appealing expression. "Hello," he greeted, the word impressively not slurred, and dipped his head just a little. Kaito coughed awkwardly.

Somewhere between the man's nod and Kaito's cough, Hakuba and Aoko managed to disappear.

Smile still in place, the man leaned casually against the bar. "I've been watching you," he began, then winced at the distinctly creepy words. "Sorry, I mean I've been observing you."

Kaito held back a laugh. For all his good looks, it seemed he still retained human awkwardness. Good. "I've noticed."

The other blinked. "Really? Have I gotten that bad at stalking?" he muttered under his breath, frowning at the floor, and Kaito didn't bother trying to conceal his laugh.

"No, it's not that. I'm just good at sensing people watching me. Occupational hazard," he assured, smirking at little.

"Occupational?" the man quirked an eyebrow quizzically, and Kaito nodded noncommittally, swearing mentally. Slip of the tongue. He shouldn't be giving any kind of backwards hint to some guy he didn't know.

Thankfully, the man didn't press. "Well, I earlier told my friend that I found you attractive, so she told me to come tell you that." He paused. "You're attractive."

Kaito blinked. "Forward, aren't you."

"Not one of my best qualities," shrugged the man. "I could rephrase it to be a pickup line, if you'd like?"

"Go ahead," Kaito offered, grinning. He liked this guy already.

The man resituated himself, pulling on a suave expression. "Hey there," he whispered seductively, and Kaito, surprised by the heat of his gaze, blinked senselessly. "I saw you across the room, and I think I'm going to have to arrest you."

"Why?"

Azure eyes clouded darkly, and the man leaned forward just a fraction of an inch as he breathed, "Because you're illegally attractive," in quite easily the sexiest voice ever.

Kaito continued to blink. Okay wow what. "Oh God."

"Kudou Shinichi will do," the man corrected, smirking mischievously when Kaito deadpanned. He shed his half-lidded expression quite easily as he slid onto the barstool next to Kaito's. "Nice to meet you." He extended one hand.

Kaito smirked, recovering easily as he shook Shinichi's hand. "Kuroba Kaito."

_[end Kaito's side]_

* * *

Uh, yeah. /shuffles away awkwardly

(That pickup line though.)


	9. Haiku

**Haiku**

Shinichi growled low in his throat as he rifled frantically through the papers littering his desk. "Where is it?" he muttered, flipping open a manila folder – no, that was the whistling murderer case, and that one was the haunted hotel case, and –

Fighting back the urge to claw out his eyes because _how hard could it be to find one case file _(apparently very hard, when you've solved as many as Shinichi yet have the organization skills of a reindeer, which Shinichi also had), Shinichi slumped down in his desk chair, cradling his face in his hands. He seriously needed to sort out his desk. Or get some kind of real system going.

Pulling his hands away from his face, Shinichi stared at the mess of white dejectedly. It was going to take some time to find that file. As he resignedly began to stack them, a slip of paper danced off the desk, fluttering to the floor.

"Hm?" Shinichi leaned over and picked it up, grimacing as he wondered if it was a piece of evidence. If it was, it was going to take him a while to find the case file it pertained to.

But his frown disappeared at the familiar handwriting on the paper, spelling out:

_azure tanzanite_

_justice, honor, truth, wisdom_

_you're my only one._

Shinichi ran a hand through his hair, though he couldn't hide the grin blooming across his face. Kaito and his romantic gestures…

* * *

"Turn to Act Four, Scene One. Is everyone ready? 'Come, sit thee…'"

Kaito flipped open his copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, silently cursing whoever decided that it was a good idea to read Shakespeare in the original English. As he passed page fifty-four, a folded piece of paper drifted out, landing lightly on his desk.

As the English teacher continued reading, Kaito examined the piece of paper. He couldn't remember placing it in his book himself, and the last time he had used it was at Shinichi's house, when he was studying for –

_Oh._

A smirk crossed Kaito's face as he unfolded the paper. The handwriting was neat and precise, reading:

_indigo sapphire_

_snow white phantom of my dreams_

_i'm forever yours._

Kaito laughed out loud, pressing his hand over his mouth as he tried to stifle it.

"Are you okay, Kuroba-kun?" called the teacher, looking concernedly up from her spot at the front of the class.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, completely," Kaito managed around a grin, dropping his hand as he adopted a serious expression.

"If you're sure," she answered slowly, returning to her book. She had long since learned to expect odd things from him.

Pasting on a smile for the classmates still staring at him, Kaito snuck a quick look back down at the paper.

And they said Shinichi was completely unromantic.

* * *

Filler~! And also. I am terrible at writing haiku, just so everyone's clear on that.


	10. Gear

**Gear**

Shinichi stared blankly at the articles of clothing in his hands, an expression of resigned horror passing over his face. "This is…"

"Yes. That is," replied Kaito. Shinichi looked up from the garments and met the grinning magician's eyes, fairly certain his face was about three shades of white.

"I can't be seen wearing this," the detective managed after a long pause. He swallowed hard. "I have a reputation, you know."

"It'll be just you and me," purred Kaito reassuringly, tracing over Shinichi's clenched jaw with light fingertips. "Just you and me, here at home."

Shinichi almost laughed, quickly diving in and kissing Kaito before the magician could react. "Wow, this suddenly feels much kinkier when you put it that way."

Kaito, who had flushed at Shinichi's surprise kiss, blanched as he realized what Shinichi thought he meant. "I wasn't even thinking about that before." He blinked. "That _would_ be really kinky."

"Right?" Shinichi smirked before returning his gaze to the garments. "Well… I guess I could wear this. But not out!" he added hurriedly as Kaito's face lit up.

"We already went over this, didn't we? Just you and me," he reminded, rolling his eyes as he watched Shinichi sweep his shirt off over his head. "Although I personally wouldn't mind going out. You'd look… delicious."

"Please choose a less awkward adjective, please," Shinichi grumbled as he pulled on the garments. "This is already embarrassing enough for me as is. If we went out, people would most definitely talk." He started on his belt buckle. "God this is awkward."

"I could help you, if you'd like?" Kaito offered, not balking underneath the glare Shinichi shot him.

"Do not help me with this. That's just… ugh," Shinichi demanded, shuddering as he pulled off his pants.

Smirking, Kaito sat down on the bed behind him, watching as Shinichi swore and worked at the fabric attached to his right shoulder. "That's fine with me. I'll just watch your striptease."

"Shut up," Shinichi commanded, tossing another glare over his shoulder. Finally done struggling into the gear, he pulled out an object from one of the pockets of the clothing and stared at it. "How do you…?"

"It goes on your face. Surely you know that," Kaito rolled his eyes, but beamed nonetheless. "I could help you with it, if you like."

"I'll pass." Shinichi placed the object gingerly onto his face, scrunching his brow, and turned hesitantly around to await Kaito's response. "So?"

Kaito's breath caught in his throat at the sight of Shinichi in the Kid outfit, eyes glittering behind the monocle and the cape falling smoothly behind him.

Damn.

He crossed the room to take the top hat from where Shinichi clutched it awkwardly with gloved hands. "You know," he remarked pensively as he placed it on top of Shinichi's head, "I'm thinking that kinky might be good right now."

Shinichi laughed as he gathered Kaito up in his arms. "I think so too."

* * *

I actually had no idea where I was going with this when I started writing it. It just wrote itself. Like very unfortunate magic.


	11. Breaking Up

**Breaking Up**

Taking a sip of his long-since-gone-cold tea, Shinichi calmly folded his hands in his lap and met Kaito's gaze across the table as steadily as he could manage. "Kaito."

"Shinichi." Kaito blinked.

Summoning up whatever courage he might still have, Shinichi said, "We need to talk."

"I think we _are_ talking, but go ahead if it makes you feel better about yourself," remarked Kaito serenely, smirking slightly as he propped himself up on one arm. His dark bangs tilted just so, brushing against the top of his slanted eyebrows. His indigo eyes sparkled underneath thick eyelashes.

Shinichi had to swallow a grin (ugh why was Kaito so _perfect _dammit) and pasted on a stern expression. "Kaito, we need to break up."

The magician stared at him blankly. "Come again?"

"We need to break up," Shinichi repeated, the picture of composure.

(A picture that sort of crumbled to bits at the expression that overcame Kaito's face.)

"W-We have to _break up_?" stammered Kaito, eyes wide and jaw dropping. "What? Why? I thought that we were doing fine –"

"Better than fine, actually," Shinichi muttered, and Kaito nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

"Better than fine. So why exactly do we have to break up?"

"Er…" Shinichi trailed off. "It's like this, you see…"

"Are you being hunted down by the mafia?"

Shinichi blinked. "What?"

Kaito only stared intently at him. "Are you being hunted down by the mafia?"

"Uh… no?"

"Why did you hesitate?"

"Good God, Kaito. _No_."

Kaito's eyes adopted a wounded cast. "If it's not the mafia… could it be you're in love with Mouri-chan?"

"Ran? What the – no, I'm not in love with Ran." Shinichi shifted as he lifted his cup to his mouth.

"I see." Kaito paused, appearing to brood. "Then… Hattori?"

Choking violently on the sip of tea he'd unfortunately taken, Shinichi began coughing, trying desperately to breathe.

Once he'd regained the ability to speak, he rasped, "Not Hattori. No."

"Mm. Aoko?"

"She's _your _childhood friend, you know."

"Then what about Ha –"

"_NotHakubadonoteventhinkaboutit_."

"Okay." Kaito leaned back in his seat, looking pensive. "You're moving away and I'm not good enough for long distance?"

"What? Not really."

"I'm too clingy?"

"No."

"You've contracted a terminal illness?"

"From where?"

"Our relationship is no longer interesting or fun or appealing?"

"Um, not quite."

"You were only after my body this whole time?"

"…Did you really just say that aloud?"

"We're better as friends?"

"Well, to be honest, I actually like the more-than-friends parts quite a bit."

"It's not me, it's you?"

Shinichi had to think about that one. "Kind of. But not really."

"You never really loved me."

"Like hell. You think I could act constantly for nearly two months?" Shinichi shook his head. "You're giving me waaay too much credit, Kaito."

"Right." Kaito crossed his arms over his chest. "In that case, I reject your offer."

"Huh? Offer?"

"Your offer to break up. I reject it."

"…Wait, you can do that?"

"No, but I am."

"If you can't, then why are you doing it?"

"Because if it's not for any of those reasons, then it's got be you're trying to protect me from some random crime syndicate. Or you're in love with Akako."

"Ick." Shinichi shuddered at the thought. "You _know _Koizumi-san is scary. Especially when she follows me around asking how I managed to 'win your heart.'"

"Then it's the first reason, and in which case I refuse because that is a stupid reason," answered Kaito, smiling cheerily.

Shinichi regarded him for a second before dropping his face into his hands. "Should've known."

"If it's any consolation, I can start carrying around my card gun and a can of pepper spray."

"Because that would really ward off gunman and snipers." The detective raised his face for a second to glare at him. "Why the hell did I have to fall in love with someone so stubborn?"

Kaito shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm not going to let you go for a reason like that." He smirked his familiar Kid grin, and Shinichi melted just a little.

"Fine," he finally said, reaching over to ruffle Kaito's hair. "We don't have to break up."

When Kaito beamed heartbreakingly perfectly, Shinichi decided breaking up had been a completely pointless idea.

* * *

FEEL THE SAPPINESS. /dances around with wavy arm motions


	12. Beau

**Beau**

"Hello?"

"Shin-chan! It's me~!"

"…What do you want, Mom?"

"Why are you so cold? How could we have raised such an uncaring son? Oh the shame!"

"Quit it with the theatrics."

"Oh, but didn't you know, Shin-chan? An actress never truly leaves the stage!"

"…I'm hanging up now."

"Fine, fine! I just wanted to ask about how Kai-chan is!"

"Huh? Who? What is a 'Kai-chan'?"

"Oh, come now, Shin-chan! He's your beau!"

"…First of all, I do not have a beau. Second of all, it is the twenty-first century, and I would appreciate it if you acknowledged that. And third of all, _he_?!"

"Now, now, Shin-chan, you can't hide it from me! You have a beau."

"Please refresh my memory."

"It's Ka-i-to, of course!"

"Ka-i-to, Kai-chan… Oh, you mean Kaito? As in, Kuroba Kaito? He is not my… beau. He is my… friend. That is all."

"You don't have to pretend around me. I can tell when you're lying, you know!"

"No you cannot."

"Yes, I can. You stop using contractions."

"…Is that why everyone knows when I'm lying?"

"Yes."

"…I see."

"Anyway, Shin-chan, back to the topic at hand. I already know that you and Kai-chan are in love~!"

"Again, no, we are not."

"Contractions, Shin-chan. And even if you didn't have a tell, a mother _always _knows."

"You thought Ran would eventually be your daughter-in-law. Not really feeling it, personally, considering she married Hondou-kun, what, three months ago?"

"That wasn't a real feeling. I thought that was what you wanted to hear."

"What?"

"Anyway! Kai-chan!"

"Mom. I am not in love with Kaito."

"But Kai-chan is such a sweetheart, and he's definitely in love with _you_."

"What? What's your source on _that_?"

"Chikage-chan. We were talking, and she told me that Kai-chan confided in her and said that he was in love with my son."

"That is very… interesting."

"You're smiling, aren't you?"

"Of course not. I am not – I'm not smiling. I am... er, I'm… uh… crying. Sobbing, even."

"You sound rather happy for someone who's 'sobbing'."

"Yes, well, I am – I mean, I'm just a mess of emotions right now. Really."

"…Are you going to go confess to Kai-chan now?"

"What? Of course not. Perish the thought."

"But Shin-chan, you obviously –"

"I'm going to go ask him to be my beau."

"…That is most certainly acceptable."

* * *

Am I the only person who likes all dialogue fics? (Probably.) I dunno, I just think they're fun. /shrug

And Yukiko is such an awesome character too. I love her :D

By the way, sorry for the late update. I've been without internet connection since this afternoon T_T


	13. Person A

**Person A**

Hakuba regarded Kaito impassively as he leaned on one elbow. "So basically, you're telling me you're in love with Kudou-kun and need advice."

"No!" Kaito half-shouted, looking scandalized. Unfortunately for him, Hakuba noted the pink that suddenly colored his cheeks. "I just – no, it's, uh, I was just…"

"Kuroba-kun, how stupid do you think I am?"

"Pretty stupid," replied Kaito.

Rolling his eyes, Hakuba shook his head irately. "Kuroba-kun, as stupid as you think I may be, I am not a complete idiot, so when you drag me into Kudou-kun's library, attempt to swear me to secrecy, and ask me for advice about how to pursue Kudou-kun using vague hypotheticals, all the while looking suspiciously at the door as if you're afraid the man of the house is going to walk in, I think you should consider that perhaps I can connect the dots."

Kaito bristled. "I hate you. Did you know that?"

"Yes, I did." Straightening, Hakuba rolled back his shoulders. "So you're in love with Kudou-kun?"

"No," Kaito resolutely answered, crossing his arms across his chest. "What I said was, 'I have a question for you. Let's just say that that Person A likes Person B, but Person B and Person C have known each other for, like, a million years, and Person B probably likes Person C. And Person A is friends with both Person B and Person C and both of them are really nice, so Person A doesn't want to get in the way. What should Person A do?'" He glared. "I didn't say anything about me or Shinichi."

"Yes, and I believe in that scenario, you're Person A, Kudou-kun is Person B, and Mouri-san is Person C?"

Kaito looked at him askance. "Of course not. Person A is just… Person A."

The blond detective shook his head in annoyance. Even after four years, Kuroba hadn't changed _at all._

"Right." Hakuba cleared his throat, nodding slowly. "So this is your roundabout method of admitting that you like Kudou-kun and asking me for advice."

"No, it's not."

Hakuba eyed him exasperatedly. "Kuroba-kun, we're getting nowhere like this and you know it. Just admit it. You're in love with Kudou-kun. I won't judge you." _Much._

Blowing out a breath, Kaito sighed. "Yes, okay, fine, I'm kind of in love with Shinichi. Now could you help m –"

He was cut off when the door to the library suddenly flew open and in walked none other than Kudou Shinichi himself, casting Hakuba a quick glance. "Mind if I borrow Person A for a second?" he asked without waiting for an answer before grabbing a horrified Kaito by the arm and dragging him out of the room.

Hakuba blinked as Shinichi's voice drifted back to him, accompanied by Kaito's muffled protests. "For the love of God, Kaito, did it ever occur to you that Person B might actually like Person A too?"

* * *

I honestly had no idea where I was going with this when I started. Hm.


	14. Valentine's Day

**Valentine's Day**

The alarm clock on the nightstand read 1:04 a.m.

Rolling over lazily, Shinichi pressed his cheek lightly against Kaito's ear. "Hey," he murmured, voice still laced with sleep. He cleared his throat groggily. "Kaito."

"Mm?" Kaito frowned, eyes still shut. "What do you want?" He shifted underneath Shinichi's face and made a contented sound, burrowing into Shinichi's chest. The detective smiled at the sight as Kaito clutched at his shirt with a quiet sigh.

Wrapping an arm around Kaito's back, Shinichi drew back to look him in the face. Well, as well as he could in the early morning murkiness of his bedroom. "Today's Valentine's Day, Kaito. Don't you want to do something romantic?"

"What? No," replied Kaito, sounding almost affronted. "Romance. No."

Shinichi frowned, surprised. "I thought you liked romance."

"On any other day of the year I love romance. When it's from you, at least," muttered Kaito, nosing into the hollow of Shinichi's throat. "Do you remember last Valentine's Day?"

Crinkling his nose as he tried to remember, Shinichi said, "We were eating dinner at the Beika Observation Deck and someone was murdered?"

"Right. The year before that?"

"We discovered that I'm allergic to certain kinds of daffodils." He paused, flushing slightly. "And some brands of chocolate-flavored lube."

"Good memory."

Shinichi flinched visibly, tucking Kaito in closer. "Unfortunately, I don't know if I can ever forget that."

"I bet." Kaito laughed. "And the year before that?"

"I… accidentally took you to a sushi bar." Terrible, terrible idea. "In my defense, you didn't tell me about your phobia."

"Because it's stupid and embarrassing," groaned Kaito. Shinichi could almost feel Kaito's cheeks heating up against his chest. "As is what happened after we walked in and I realized it was a sushi bar."

"Nothing about you is ever stupid or embarrassing," Shinichi rebuked calmly, and he was positive Kaito's face warmed this time. Biting back a grin, Shinichi threaded one hand loosely through Kaito's hair and hummed softly.

Sounding muffled now, Kaito mumbled, "Don't even. Anyway, do you remember the time when we weren't even together yet?"

Oh. This one was particularly… awkward. Shinichi swallowed before he answered, "Someone… spiked the chocolates I gave to you, mistakenly thinking they were for me?"

"Spiked them with an aphrodisiac, to be more precise, but yes, that is essentially correct," Kaito agreed. Shinichi could feel his lips curving into a smile against his collarbone.

"And you ate them before class." Shinichi coughed awkwardly.

Being cornered by Kaito in the bathroom at the first break had been rather… both pleasantly unexpected and rather horrifying due to the lack of explanations that had transpired.

(At the time, he had sort of known he liked Kaito, but he hadn't been sure enough about his feelings to even think about acting on them or anything like that. And Kaito wearing a glazed over expression and pinning him against the bathroom wall had been kind of… unusual. In a "this is not quite right" sort of way.)

(And thankfully, Shinichi had managed to escape that one with both his and Kaito's chastity intact.)

"See? We've never gotten anywhere trying to have a romantic Valentine's Day, so I'm good like this," Kaito explained, dropping a kiss along Shinichi's jawline.

"I see," Shinichi agreed, smiling, as he ran a hand up the arch of Kaito's back. "I like this too."

"Don't you?" Kaito shut his eyes. "Now shut up and go to sleep. I just looked, and it's one eighteen in the morning. What possessed you to ask for this conversation _now_?"

"Nothing, really."

Shinichi fell silent for a second, listening to Kaito's even, almost imperceptible breaths, feeling his own heartbeat match up in a perfect symphony.

"Kaito?"

A slightly irritated "What _now_?" came from where Kaito was nestled into Shinichi's chest.

"Happy Valentine's Day. I love you."

Silence, then a muffled laugh – "Happy Valentine's Day, Shinichi. I love you too."

* * *

Cuz I don't know. Everyone always seems to go all-out for Valentine's Day with all these complicated storylines and drama and flangst and whatnot, but I just wanted to do something sweet and simple.


	15. Farewell

**Farewell**

Kaito:

First of all, I'm sorry. So, so, so sorry.

Because if you're reading this letter, that means that I'm gone.

It sort of makes me wonder how I went. Was it someone I caught before getting revenge now that they're out of prison? A stray Black Organization member who's been plotting and waiting ever since I came back and took them down? There are so many possibilities.

Well, that's not why I'm writing this, really. At this point in time, I haven't told you anything. Nothing at all. I've told you about past cases, about my friends, about the Black Organization, all of that, but I haven't told you a thing.

You, Kuroba Kaito, are the single most important thing to me.

There, I wrote it.

I don't mean to say that Ran and Hattori and Haibara and my parents and the professor aren't important because they are, of course. But you… you're the most important among the important, you know?

I love you most than anything else this world could ever offer.

Hold on, I have to go splash cold water on my face because I'm pretty sure my cheeks are on fire.

Anyway, it's a bit pathetic that I can't tell you this right now, while I'm still around. At the moment, you're in the kitchen, trying to make chocolate because you only now just realized that yesterday was Valentine's Day and you didn't give me anything. I can smell chocolate and vanilla and something odd, like cinnamon, but I know that if I go question you you'll just get defensive and go red and splutter before shoving me out of the kitchen.

It's times like this that make me realize I really don't want to think about not being around to see you blush.

I'm honestly sorry about this - sorry that I'm such a coward that I can't tell you how much I adore you until it's too late. Hell, I can face murderers, confront kidnappers, be a hostage without batting an eye, but the thought of you rejecting me is just so world-shattering that I can't even think about telling you without breaking out into a sweat.

For now, I'm content just being there for you.

I love you, Kuroba Kaito. I don't mind if you don't love me back – hate me, despise me… just never forget me.

Now I'm going to go see what's happening in the kitchen. Something smells burnt and I'm pretty sure the fire alarm is about to go off.

Kudou Shinichi

* * *

Folding the paper into a square, Shinichi was about to stand up and run for the kitchen when Kaito barreled into the library, clutching a plate. "Hey! I did it!" he exclaimed brightly, thrusting the plate out to Shinichi.

Blinking, Shinichi stared down at the chocolate lying innocently on the plate. It was shaped like a heart, with curly frosting around the edges, and was colored a fairly normal shade of brown.

"Wow," Shinichi said honestly, breaking off a piece of the chocolate. He placed it on his tongue, frowning slightly concerned at the taste of vanilla and cinnamon – he'd been right – spreading throughout his mouth. "Why does this taste like vanilla and cinnamon?"

Kaito scowled, going slightly pink. "Sorry I can't make gourmet chocolate. I'd like to see you try," he huffed.

"It's not a bad thing," Shinichi told him mildly, picking up the whole chocolate to take a bite out of it. He cleared his throat, wondering if he could manage to say what he had just written, but all that came out was, "Thanks, Kaito."

Kaito's whole face lit up as he coughed, trying to hide his relief. "Well, if you say so. I'd still like to see you try. See you in the kitchen?"

"Right." Shinichi smiled as he watched Kaito head for the kitchen. He put the last of Kaito's chocolate into his mouth and then looked down at the piece of paper still clutched in his hand.

_Well, _he thought as he slipped the paper into his pocket and started for the kitchen, _I don't need to worry about dying yet._

* * *

I was struggling so much about whether I should make it a happy ending or not. I mean, I totally set the stage for angst.


	16. Deduction

**Deduction**

Shinichi's good at deductions.

He's not bragging when he says it – it's just a fact. Everyone agrees with him, for the most part. He can know a man for less than a minute and tell him he's a surgeon, shake a girl's hand and know she's a gymnast, take one look at a kid and know the man and woman with him aren't his parents.

It's a skill Shinichi has accomplished rather brilliantly.

…Except that he has absolutely no idea what to get Kaito for his birthday, and not even his deduction skill can help him on this front.

He's staring at the glass display case, with the store clerk hovering uncertainly at his elbow as she makes uncomfortable, "Um, sir?" sounds and flutters awkwardly. Beneath the glass lies an impressive selection of sapphires, all large and sparkling and pretty and set in rings and necklaces and earrings, but Shinichi isn't sure if he could do anything with them.

"Um, sir?" The salesgirl's pained expression tightens slightly. "May I help you, or…?"

"Thank you, I'll browse on my own," Shinichi says quickly, finally realizing that she can't exactly leave him alone until he dismisses her.

She nods gratefully and flits off, and Shinichi returns his gaze to the sapphires, frowning pensively.

If Kaito was a girl, Shinichi would get roses, maybe. Some kind of flower. Maybe imported chocolate. Offer a romantic candlelit dinner or something cliché like that. Girls tend to enjoy that sort of thing – anything that seems "from the heart" and "romantic."

Unfortunately, Kaito is not a girl, and that, Shinichi decides, makes it at least fifty percent harder to get him a gift. Roses are not going to work, obviously, seeing as Kaito can conjure up twenty five million of those if he wanted, chocolate is something they eat on a regular basis anyway, and a romantic candlelit dinner is more likely to make Kaito wonder what the hell happened to his down-to-earth detective rather than swoon appropriately.

Which leads Shinichi to stop in at a jewelry store on his way home from the police headquarters. He doesn't really know why, but jewels always remind him of Kaito. (It's probably because of Kaito's night job.) One that's purchased legally will make an okay gift, right?

One gem in particular catches his eye, a fairly large one, set on a ring. Unlike the rest of the sapphires, it's just about completely unadorned, but it somehow seems as if it's almost glowing with a faint blue light.

Shinichi decides to buy it because, really, why not? It reminds him of Kaito's eyes, somehow, and it's not like the son of a bestselling author and a world-famous retired actress can't afford it.

He tries not to think about the symbolism of giving Kaito a clearly expensive ring as he leaves the jewelry store.

He also tries to deny that fact that he kind of doesn't mind the symbolism.

It feels heavy in his back pocket when Shinichi finally works up the nerve to give it to Kaito on his birthday, a week later.

"I didn't know what to get you," he confesses apologetically. "Roses, chocolate, a candlelit dinner… none of them really fit."

Kaito stares at him like he's finally lost it. "Shinichi," he says, his tone almost reprimanding, "any of those would've been perfectly fine, if they were from you." He shakes his head reprovingly. "It would've been fine even if you didn't get me anything. I'm happy just spending the day with you."

"…Oh," Shinichi replies intelligently. He pulls the box out of his pocket awkwardly and offers it to Kaito. "Well, I went with this in the end."

Face impassive, Kaito takes the box from Shinichi and opens it. His jaw drops and his eyes widen – the exact same shade of indigo as the sapphire, Shinichi notes with sudden comprehension as to why it reminds him of Kaito's eyes – and he's frozen for a second before suddenly Shinichi has a lapful of magician.

"Thank you," he whispers into Shinichi's ear, and Shinichi's grinning hard as Kaito's lips manage to find his.

Well, what do you know – he's not so bad at gift-giving.

They discover the sapphire is Pandora three days later.

* * *

Speaking of birthdays, happy birthday to **GeekyGenius**, who informed me that it's her (his?) birthday today. Happy birthday, darling! And I'm sorry that this isn't a super fabulous ficlet or anything OTL


	17. First Kiss

**First Kiss**

"Uh… just so you know, Shinichi, I've, um, never actually, uh, done this. Before."

"…Excuse me?"

"What I mean is… I've never, um, kissed anyone before."

"…"

"…"

"What."

"No, it's not like – I just… I've never kissed anyone before."

"Well… that changes things."

"What? Why?"

"I can't just take your first kiss, dammit!"

"…Shinichi, I _just_ finished telling you that I've been in love with you for God knows how long, and _that's_ your response?"

"Yes! You don't understand how _sacred_ first kisses are!"

"…"

"…What?"

"Shinichi, are you secretly a girl? Because that was really, really girly."

"Wh – _no_. Look, this is the kind of thing that you're going to regret later on."

"Why would I regret giving you my first kiss? It's not like my virginity or something. Although technically speaking, I wouldn't mind giving you _that _either."

"…"

"…Are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

"N-No, I'm fine. But you just came out and said… that."

"You're blushing, Shinichi. About ten shades of red."

"…Um. Okay. Back to the topic at hand. I can't take your first kiss; you'll regret it later."

"Why, pray tell?"

"Because you're in love with me _right now_. Who knows where you'll be in ten years? Maybe you'll regret giving your first kiss to me and wish you saved it for someone else."

"Are you really going there?"

"Huh? Going where?"

"It feels as if you doubt my feelings for you."

"No, it's not – I'm just… saying. You know."

"You can 'just say' once you actually kiss me, dammit."

"…Fine. Close your eyes."

"…"

"…"

"Shinichi, you just kissed me on the cheek. That is one, _incredibly_ girly and solidifies my earlier theory that you're secretly a girl, and two, not a real kiss. At all."

"We just went over this. I can't bear to take your first kiss when there's a possibility that – _mmph_!"

"…"

"…Kaito?"

"Ugh, what _now_?"

"I just wanted to let you know that was my first kiss."

* * *

Whee, first kisses~ /flaps around room

On an unrelated note, I just wanted to give a quick warning that the next two days' ficlets are going to be hurt/comfort. Yeeeeeeah. Just a warning.


	18. Tragedy, A-side (Broken)

**Tragedy [A-side]**

_Broken_

Shinichi was motionless, sitting on his bed as he stared straight ahead, past the bookshelf, past the wall, _to the hospital room, to where she lay, bandages covering her_ –

There was a soft flutter of cloth by the window, and Shinichi turned his head just enough to see the white-clad thief land softly inside, an ivory silhouette against the dark silk sky.

A mirthless laugh was peeling painfully off Shinichi's lips before he realized it. "So you heard, too? Came to taunt me?" He was vaguely aware of how whispery and devastated and _broken_ his voice sounded, like a thousand fragments of glass, but he doesn't bother to try to repair it, to conjure up a façade for the ever-masked phantom.

"No," was the quiet reply. Shinichi elected to ignore it, returning his eyes to the wall.

"What, then?" he said under his breath, gaze wavering just the slightest bit to stray towards Kid's shadow. "It was my fault, Kid. I was there, it was my case, she wasn't involved, the murderer just…" He cleared his throat, swallowing down a lump. "I should've saved her. How can I call myself a detective when… when I couldn't even protect my best friend?" A tiny laugh lodged itself in Shinichi's lungs. "I'm pathetic. It's pathetic. So goddamn _sad_."

"I'm not here to laugh at you," Kid said gently. Shinichi was barely aware of the man crossing the room to place a hand on Shinichi's unfeeling shoulder. "Tantei-kun."

"'Tantei-kun,'" Shinichi spat, feeling the weight of the name settle in his stomach. "I can't be a detective. I couldn't even…"

"Tantei-kun, stop, please," Kid asked, his hand migrating slowly up Shinichi's shoulder to press lightly, comfortingly, against his jaw. "I can't stand to see you killing yourself over this."

"Then what?" A heartbroken sort of sound tore through Shinichi. "Don't try to say that I didn't do anything wrong, that it wasn't my fault. It was and it is and _you can't change that_." Shinichi finally looked up to meet Kid's eyes. He was surprised to find that the thief wasn't wearing his monocle _or _hat, leaving a pair of indigo eyes bare. They glittered in the moonlight like a pair of twin sapphires, and Shinichi was momentarily caught off guard.

Kid didn't bother trying to fake a smile. "I'm not saying that, tantei-kun."

"Right," scoffed Shinichi. He returned his gaze to the wall. "You can't… _fix_ me, Kid. No one can."

He expected Kid to give up at that point, fly back out the window and abandon him, but he was surprised when the hand on his cheek didn't move.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kid, sounding genuinely surprised. "Why would anyone try to fix something that's not broken?"

Shinichi's eyes widened at that, and he turned to stare questioningly at Kid. The man wore a light smile, just a tiny bit confused, as he met Shinichi's gaze.

"Tantei-kun," he said calmly, "you're not broken."

Somewhere deep inside his shattered heart, Shinichi believed him.

* * *

Because I think if Shinichi honestly couldn't protect Ran, and she was seriously injured because of that, he'd be pretty torn up over that and blame himself to no end.

This is called "A-side" because tomorrow we have a similar situation, only with it happening to Kaito instead of Shinichi. The two ficlets aren't continuous or related, really, so that's why I'm calling them "A-side" and "B-side" as opposed to "Shinichi's side" and "Kaito's side" as that implies a perspective change in the course of the same storyline.

…Does that even makes sense? Well, it did in my head, at least.


	19. Tragedy, B-side (Silent)

**Tragedy, B-side**

_Silent_

All Kaito could feel was the chair behind his back, a solid, firm press against his curved shoulder blades. He was vaguely, vaguely aware of the nurses and doctors hurrying through the hallway; they were momentary smears of white in and out of the two doors and the glowing red "surgery in progress" sign above them.

Aoko.

Aoko was in there.

Because of him.

He wanted to scream, kick, bite, _maim_, because _Aoko_, how _could _he, this wasn't supposed to happen, they weren't aiming for her, he'd just moved at the wrong time, it was all _his _fault, and she was going to –

"Kaito," said a voice, distant and soft and somewhere to his right, and Kaito mechanically turned his head to look for the source.

Kudou Shinichi was standing beside him, looking as though he'd run miles to get to where he stood, hair windblown and cheeks pink and breathing ragged. He swallowed, Kaito's eyes watching the very alive (would _she_ come out alive? _Would_ she?) movement of his throat (her throat was fine, at least, not her chest, though, there was a hole there now) –

"Kaito," Shinichi repeated, soft, and Kaito steeled himself to hear the words – cheap, vacant words like _it wasn't your fault_ and _it's going to be all right _and _don't worry_, all of those useless things that people murmured to him, would murmur to him if they knew everything, even though Kaito _knew _they were lying.

Because it _was_ his fault – what was "a nobody gets hurt" policy worth if he couldn't even, couldn't even protect _one single person_ – why was he so _powerless_ –

Kaito was waiting for the words.

He wasn't waiting for arms to wrap around him, gathering him gently into a chest.

He wasn't waiting for Shinichi to whisper, "You can cry, if you want," so quietly, so kindly that Kaito could almost imagine he hadn't heard it.

He wasn't waiting for Shinichi to stop there, not adding any worthless words of "comfort," just a hand lightly tracing circles on his back.

And he wasn't waiting to take up Shinichi on his offer, dampening the front of Shinichi's shirt. "It's my fault," he confessed against Shinichi's collarbone, anger drawing moisture out from behind his eyelids. "I couldn't – she –" A frustrated growl choked back the rest of the words, and Kaito buried his face deeper in Shinichi's shoulder.

Shinichi only hummed, holding him tight as he pressed an entirely unexpected kiss against Kaito's temple.

He didn't say a word.

For that, Kaito was eternally grateful.

* * *

I thought Kaito would probably have a similar reaction to Shinichi, though possibly more strong, if he was responsible for Aoko getting hurt, especially if she was hurt at a Kid heist. You know, because he has the "nobody gets hurt" policy or whatever.

But guess what~! Tomorrow is a cavity-inducing fluff ficlet once more.


	20. Confessions (and stuff)

**Confessions **

(and stuff)

"So, um. I, uh, love you. And… stuff."

Fidgeting madly, Shinichi lifted his eyes from where they'd been glued to the table to gauge Kaito's reaction to his confession.

In retrospect, maybe Shinichi should've picked a different café than Poirot. One, because Azusa probably had some idea what was happening and he would probably never be able to look her in the eye anymore, and two, because Kaito rejecting him would probably make him want to avoid Poirot due to the traumatic memory.

To his surprise and slight confusion, Kaito was grinning. Wildly. He sort of looked as if he was about to explode from holding in laughter.

Frowning, Shinichi cast him a reprimanding glare. "This is supposed to be _serious_, Kaito."

"I – I know, but…" Kaito coughed, trying to contain himself and failing miserably as he snorted. "You called me out here, sat there stuttering for five minutes, and finally confessed. Awkwardly." He wiped a tear from his eyes. "I would've totally expected you to be all smooth and suave, considering how I've seen you present deductions before. You're a totally different person."

"Shut up," grumbled Shinichi, flushing. "Can't you at least _pretend _this isn't a complete fail?"

"Um… probably not, to be honest," snickered Kaito. "I mean, seriously, Shinichi? 'I love you. And stuff.' What kind of confession is _that_?"

"Fine!" snapped Shinichi, suitably irritated now. "Sorry I tried to confess my feelings in the most honest way possible." He leaned back in his seat, averting his gaze sullenly.

"Come on, Shinichi," cajoled Kaito, placing his face fondly in his hands as he watched Shinichi. "I'm just messing with you." He paused, his smirk making a reappearance. "But honestly, that confession… I have to say, Shinichi…"

Shinichi scowled harder. "Ugh. Leave me alone."

"Mm… no."

Grumbling, Shinichi sat up straight and looked Kaito straight in the eye. "Do you want me to do it over?" He didn't wait for an answer before he calmly stated, "Kuroba Kaito, I am in love with you. You are the most amazing person I have _ever _met and I sincerely doubt I will meet anyone who comes close in the rest of my life. I find you so unspeakably attractive that it is painful, both emotionally and physically, to be around you without doing anything. I would like to touch you, kiss you, hold you, all of that. And I would also like to know if you return my feelings."

Oddly enough, Kaito was bright red by the time Shinichi had finished.

"Was that better?" asked Shinichi, slightly smug that he'd managed to put the color into Kaito's face.

"I actually was joking – that is to say… you didn't have to redo it. I was just…" stammered Kaito. He shrunk down, flushing even darker. "I just… I didn't… You were really…" He swallowed hard. "I, uh, love you. Er. Too."

Shinichi couldn't help but grin uncontrollably as he added, "And stuff."

* * *

Because let's face it, it's hard to believe that Shinichi could confess straightforwardly on his first try. I mean, even when he confessed to Ran, it was through some roundabout "heart of the woman one loves, how could anyone accurately deduce that" thing.

(And I just wanted to write a super awkward confession, because I seem to always write Shinichi as calm and collected while confessing.)


	21. Steal

**Steal**

Kaito can steal any jewel he'd ever want or need. And he has, in the past. He has never failed a heist before, and he has no intention of ever doing that. In the same way, he can steal paintings, sculptures, gold, anything.

He can even steal the moon.

These thoughts are rumbling through Kaito's head as he stares, er, watches, Kudou Shinichi sitting with Mouri Ran, from his position two tables away. This is a fancy restaurant, and Kaito feels sorely out of place as he sits alone, waiting for Aoko and Hakuba to get there. It's really only a coincidence that the time and place of Shinichi and Ran's date coincides with Kaito, Aoko, and Hakuba's dinner together.

(Or maybe not, because he's pretty sure Aoko has noticed the way he looks at Shinichi out of the corner of his eye, and he's pretty sure Aoko made the reservations for the restaurant as well. He wonders what she means by it. Does she want to taunt him with the sight of Shinichi and Ran together?)

Kaito lets out a little sigh, pushing the thoughts away. (For now. He'll summon them again once Aoko actually shows up and ask her the answers.) He returns his focus to Shinichi and Ran.

He's pretty sure Ran is supposed to stand out, in the little red dress she's wearing with those sky-high heels and her hair falling coiffed and silky around her shoulders, but to him, Shinichi is much more dazzling, the sleeves of his button-down folded back to reveal muscled forearms, the red silk tie (to match Ran's dress?) loose around his neck and the V of the slightly open collar parted just enough to show the pale hollow of his throat. It's an extremely good look on him, Kaito decides idly.

Shinichi laughs at something Ran says, and she blushes, the pink on her cheeks startling against the red of her dress. His head is thrown back, his neck long and graceful, and he grins widely at Ran, making some comment that makes her blush darken. She pouts, and his azure eyes are sparkling as he laughs again.

Kaito watches.

He can steal any jewel he'd ever want or need. He can steal paintings, sculptures, gold, anything. He can even steal the moon.

But he'll never be able to steal Shinichi's heart, and that's what hurts the most.

Time passes. Kaito doesn't really know, because he's dropped his head on the table and is trying to block out everything, trying not to think about the elegantly pretty detective two tables away.

(He sincerely wishes he could.)

"Hey," says a familiar voice, breaking his out of his reverie God knows how many minutes later, and Kaito blinks and pulls himself up to find that for some reason, Shinichi is standing beside him.

"Fancy meeting you in a place like this," the detective says, sounding amused.

"Oh." Kaito clears his throat, realizing how ragged his voice sounds. "Hi. Hey, aren't… you're on a date with Mouri-chan, aren't you?"

Shinichi regards him for a second. "Not really. We were just having drinks before Ran goes to the airport. She's meeting Hondou there." He gestures at the table, and Kaito looks over, surprised to see Ran standing up, sliding on a coat. She winks and waves at him before starting to weave through the tables for the door.

"You came to this kind of a restaurant?" asks Kaito, simultaneously impressed and incredulous. "For a before-airport drink?"

Shrugging, Shinichi half-smiles. "Nakamori-chan invited us here."

"'Nakamori-chan'… Aoko did?" Kaito sighs. So this really was all planned.

Aoko suddenly seems about five hundred percent more sadistic than Kaito thought.

"Hey, Kuroba?"

"Hmm?" Kaito turns a dismissive gaze on Shinichi. Any other kind of gaze would probably hurt.

The detective shuffles awkwardly. "Well, since Ran's leaving now, do you want to have dinner with me, maybe?" He looks hopeful and innocent and shy, and Kaito's blinking and blushing at the sight.

"But – I'm supposed to meet Aoko and Hakuba…?" It comes out a question. Kaito doesn't really know why.

Shinichi lifts his eyebrows. "What time were you supposed to meet?"

"Five thirty."

"It's seven now, if you haven't noticed." Shinichi's eyes are twinkling as he starts to smirk. "I think you might've been stood up."

Frowning, Kaito stares at the empty place settings before him. "Damn them."

"My offer still stands, Kaito," Shinichi remarks, and Kaito's head snaps up at the casually familiar address. Shinichi's full-out smirking now, and he's positively gorgeous.

Oh.

"Hm… feels like I haven't got a choice," Kaito replies, and he stands and follows Shinichi to the table Shinichi had been sharing with Ran.

As Shinichi flags down a waiter, Kaito has an epiphany.

He might not be able to steal Shinichi's heart… but maybe Shinichi will give it to him.

* * *

I almost ended it after the "never be able to steal Shinichi's heart, and that's what hurts the most" line, and then I thought, "Nah, I never write angst. Let's not start now." So I added a few hundred more words and made it into flangst. /pats self on back


	22. Poker Face

**Poker Face**

"I wish he'd just tell me what's up," Shinichi groaned nearly inaudibly as he shoved his face into the crook of his elbow.

Ran, who was passing by his desk on the way to hers, slowed, confused. "Hm? What's wrong with _you_, Shinichi?"

Lifting his face, Shinichi cast a mournful look at her. "There's something wrong with Kaito, but he wouldn't admit what was going on when I confronted him."

"Something wrong with Kuroba-kun?" Ran wondered as she scanned the classroom, finally locating the transfer student near the front of the classroom. He was flipping up one of the girl's skirts, earning himself a scream and a badly aimed slap that he evaded easily, laughing.

Eyebrow twitching, Ran commented dryly, "He seems to be acting perfectly normal to me, Shinichi."

"No he's not," argued Shinichi, tracking Kaito's progress around the room as he avoided the girl's fury. He waved a hand inarticulately, looking frustrated. "There's _obviously _something wrong with him."

Ran eyed her childhood friend with doubt. "Um… Is it really _obvious_?" She watched as Kaito ducked a kick and disappeared with a puff of pink smoke, materializing on the ceiling as the offended girl jumped and swung for him in vain. "I honestly don't see it, Shinichi."

Letting out a hard exhale, Shinichi rested his face on his hands. "I don't know, Ran. But I can _see _it. There's something… not quite right. His eyes aren't… actually _happy_ or even close. It's forced." He scowled. "Well, usually his smile _is _forced, but today, it looks more… painful. Like he's having more difficulty doing it."

"Wait, Kuroba-kun is faking his smile?" Ran found that a little hard to believe, considering how the man was constantly smiling the same huge grin. "Wouldn't that be a pain? I mean, he's _always_ smiling."

"I know, right?" Shinichi changed positions, leaning back in his chair so he could observe as Kaito somehow managed to skitter across the ceiling. "I've told him over and over again to just show his real emotions instead of hiding behind that stupid smile, but he's never taken me seriously."

"Oh," was all Ran said. She was at a loss as she studied Shinichi's profile. To see him this concerned about someone… it was a little sweet.

He really cared about Kaito, didn't he?

"I wish he'd just tell me," Shinichi muttered again, looking put out.

He did.

Ran smiled softly before she slipped away, leaving Shinichi to puzzle over the magician's mood.

It really was sweet.

* * *

Aw, I love Ran. She's a pretty cool character, in my opinion.


	23. Important

**Important**

To be honest, Shinichi always thought the most important thing in his life would be mysteries.

It wasn't that he meant he didn't have people he cared about more than mysteries – not at all. He just sort of thought that mysteries were something he put most of his time into. Unless someone he loved was in danger, justice for those who hadn't had anyone to protect them came first in his mind.

And it was probably that mindset that led to his multiple breakups.

Ran hadn't been able to put up with him spending his time solving cases instead of "being a good boyfriend" and taking her places and buying her roses and having candlelit dinners.

Haibara – or, Shiho, really, seeing as they'd gone out when she had returned – had been able to deal with it for a good year or so before she got tired of him missing birthdays and anniversaries and getting into dangerous situations and nearly dying half the time.

Sera had put up with it for the longest, nearly two years. It made sense – she was a detective as well. But even she had given up when she'd starting wanting a more stable relationship, instead of whenever-we-can-meet-up dates that were interrupted with murders and kidnappings and blackmail.

But something was different about Kaito.

And they weren't even going out.

It was subtle at first – Shinichi would set aside a couple case files for later in order to go out for coffee with the magician. Nothing, really. Then he'd started leaving early from the police headquarters to go to heists. At some point, he'd also begun to pass cases off to the actual police officers.

When Shinichi received a call while he was in the middle of investigating the murder of a jogger from Kaito, asking if he wanted to go out for lunch, and Shinichi actually excused himself from the crime scene to take Kaito up on his offer, it hit him.

Mysteries were no longer first in his life.

* * *

To be honest, Kaito always thought the most important thing in his life would be heists.

That wasn't to say that he didn't have people he cared about – of course not. There were his mom, Jii-chan, Aoko, even Akako, Inspector Nakamori, and Hakuba. But unless they were in danger, Kaito put heists first.

And that was probably why none of his relationships worked out so well.

Keiko had been first. Kaito hadn't really been serious about her, to be honest, and he hadn't though she was serious about _him_ either, but he had discovered she was when she threw a vase at his head because he "spent too much time planning for something and not enough with her." Only later did Kaito find out she had thought he was planning something for her birthday when he'd really been planning for a heist.

Aoko… hadn't gone well. Kaito really should've figured that if they were dating, she was bound to figure out that he was Kid. They went out for a year before she found the secret room. Even though she had promised not to tell anyone (and she hadn't, thankfully), there would probably still always be a hole in her trust for him. Kaito almost hated himself for it.

Akako had done better. She'd known about Kaito's secret for the longest time (though Kaito would always deny it), but after about two years of actually being _second_ in terms of importance to him, she'd broken up with him on the grounds that she loved him too much to not go on without crying.

But something was different about Shinichi.

(Which was weird, because they weren't even together.)

They'd met after Kaito had found and destroyed Pandora, and heists had become for his own entertainment. It was little things – Kaito would go a little on the simple side in his planning, just so he'd have a little more time to be around Shinichi. Then he'd foregone learning a few new tricks so they could go out for dinner. Heists had gone from two a month to one.

When Kaito missed his own heist because he'd found out that Shinichi had come down with a minor case of pneumonia and went to go take care of the detective, he'd realized it.

Heists were no longer first in his life.

* * *

Inspired, just the slightest bit, by "Whoever She Is" by The Maine.

Mm. Not much to say about this one, except that I can totally picture Shinichi being a workaholic and ticking off Ran because of it.


	24. Fighting

**Fighting**

The second he opened his front door to find Kudou Shinichi standing there, Hattori Heiji knew there was something wrong.

(Well, obviously. If your best friend from Tokyo popped up on your doorstep in Osaka on a random Tuesday night without calling ahead, yes, something was probably wrong.)

"Kudou," Hattori said, surprised. "Are you… why are you here, again?"

Kudou only blinked at him. "Oh, Hattori. Nice to see you," he replied in a very dead sort of way. "What are you doing in a place like this?'

Hattori stared. "…Um."

"Heiji, who is it?" called his mother from somewhere behind him, and Hattori jumped.

"It's just Kudou. I don't know what's wrong with him, but I'm going to invite him in, 'kay?" he yelled back over his shoulder. A muffled sound of agreement came back.

"Come in, Kudou," Hattori ordered gently, stepped aside to let in the other detective. Kudou only nodded mutely as he walked in.

Frowning in concern, Hattori escorted Kudou into the living room, motioning for him to sit down on the couch. Kudou did so, looking no less emotionless than before.

"Er…" With an awkwardly cough, Hattori asked, "So, uh, Kudou, are you going to tell me what's wrong and why you came all the way to Osaka?"

Kudou glanced up from his lap, then back down. "I got in a fight with Kaito."

"…I see," Hattori stammered. He had still yet to meet this illustrious Kuroba Kaito person, who'd managed to sweep a very un-sweepable Kudou Shinichi off his feet. He'd heard rumors that Kaito was a guy, though. "Um… what was it about?"

"I got into an argument with him about Ran," sighed Shinichi, and Hattori nearly choked at the "him."

"Right," he managed. "Is that… is that why you came to Osaka? Because if you went to that neechan it would just confirm her – I mean, his suspicions about you two being… in a relationship?"

"I guess," Kudou agreed heavily, gaze blank as he traced a finger lightly over the edge of the couch cushion. "I just sort of got on the train and let it take me anywhere. That's all, actually."

Gripping his hair with one hand, Hattori blew out a long breath. It was hard to imagine that _anyone _could get the great Kudou Shinichi into this out-of-sorts state, all empty eyes and soulless expression. Damn. That Kuroba person had to be some kind of god to do this to him.

That, or Kudou really, really loved him.

The thought was just finished when the doorbell rang for the second time that night, followed by a frantic knocking. Kudou raised his head, staring in the direction of the door as if he could see it through the walls, and Hattori gave a quick, "Be right back, Kudou," before he hurried to get the door.

He pulled it open to find a man standing there, out of breath and wild-eyed. Hattori took half a second to notice how he looked the slightest bit like Kudou before the man breathlessly demanded, "Is Shinichi here?"

"Huh? Uh, yes, he's –" was all Hattori could get out before the man was pushing past him, calling out Kudou's name.

His first name.

Hattori didn't have to be a detective to know that this man was most likely Kuroba Kaito.

Debating whether it would be better to wait outside, Hattori followed Kuroba at a much slower pace to the living room. Hm… well, he had to make sure they didn't break anything, at least.

When he arrived a few paces behind Kuroba, Kudou was still sitting, but Kuroba was standing in front of him. To Hattori's confusion, neither said a word – they just… looked at each other?

…In a way that spoke in more than words.

_Oh._

Realization dawned on Hattori at that point, and he took a step backwards.

Kudou stood up and took Kuroba's hand in a surprisingly natural motion. "Let's go," he told Kuroba quietly, who only nodded.

Mystified, Hattori watched as the two of them headed for the door. Kudou spared him a quick glance – was that his usual expression on his face? All confident and lively and _normal_? – and offered an exceedingly calm, "Sorry about this, Hattori," before they were gone.

Hattori just stood and watched, shaking his head fondly after his best friend, before he shut the door with a heavy sigh.

He wondered if he'd ever fall that hard for someone.

* * *

I was just sort of wondering what would happen if Kaito and Shinichi got into a legitimate fight. I'm a pretty pathetic romantic, so I figured they'd have the type of relationship where you don't need words to apologize. /shrugs


	25. Seduction

**Seduction**

Kaito wondered if he could go back in time and erase Sherlock Holmes from existence.

Or, better yet, maybe he could go erase Kudou Shinichi and his stupid (sexy) bad habit.

He'd heard about Shinichi's habit from Ran before, but at the time, he'd just brushed it off as a random fact that would never truly matter.

Oh how wrong he'd been.

Kaito now sat across from Shinichi in the Kudou family library, a very uncomfortable three feet away, pretending to be entirely engrossed in the book about… uh… was it unsolved murder cases? – that he was holding.

Shinichi was also reading. He was flipping through a much worn copy of _The Sign of Four_. That wasn't weird or unusual or anything, considering that it was fairly widely known that Shinichi was an avid Sherlock Holmes fan.

It was just the fact that Shinichi also had an extremely strange habit of biting his lip while he read.

Ducking his head, Kaito tried not to stare as he watched Shinichi clamp his bottom lip between his teeth absently. Seeing as they'd been reading for nearly twenty minutes now, his lip had long since gone bright red under the abuse. It was also slick with saliva, and every now and again his tongue would dart out and trail across it, alleviating just a little of the redness. His top lip had been given a short break, but the red had yet to fade entirely.

The thought of exactly what those lips were capable of made Kaito flinch inwardly and try to focus on the page in front of him.

"How's the book?"

Nearly jumping four feet in the air at the sudden question, Kaito stuttered out a, "Fine, yes!"

Shinichi nodded approvingly. "You're reading _A Collection of Unsolved Murders_, aren't you? Have you gotten to the Kyoto Nagaoka case yet?"

Kaito blinked. "What?"

With a patient smile, Shinichi repeated, "The Kyoto Nagaoka case. The one about the two women collecting bracken?"

"Uh…" Kaito stared down at the book in his lap. "Yes?"

"That's one of my favorites," Shinichi commented, smiling, and Kaito's eyes were instantly drawn back to his lips.

His still red, still wet lips.

Oblivious, Shinichi blinked in confusion as Kaito groaned and buried his face in the book. "Do unsolved murders really annoy him that much?"

* * *

Ah, my darling dense Shinichi. I think it's more like "does Kaito really like _you _that much"?

Also, there really is an unsolved murder case in Kyoto Nagaoka in which two women gathering bracken are killed.

(Not quite sure why I know this.)


	26. Kissing

**Warning: **Rated T. Like, pretty damn T-rated, in my opinion. I could be wrong, though.

* * *

**Kissing**

"You know, Shinichi," Kaito remarked pensively, "I really hate it when you kiss me."

Shinichi stared, his shirt hanging halfway open. "Excuse me?"

"I really hate it when you kiss me," repeated Kaito, leaning back on his side of the bed. He slanted his head in the darkness.

"Is…" Shinichi coughed. "Has this been a common occurrence?"

"Mm, sort of," Kaito nodded.

Staring some more, Shinichi slowly continued, "So you found it necessary to tell me this right as we were…" He motioned down at his open shirt before pointedly looking at Kaito's bare abdomen, then at Kaito's shirt, which was strewn on the floor beside the bed.

Kaito shrugged, leaning back onto the pillow. "Well, I was just thinking, you know."

"You were… thinking. While we were…" Shinichi took a moment to wonder why, exactly, he'd fallen for this man so hard. He raked a hand through his bangs and sighed deeply. "Okay then. Is there... I don't know, something you'd like me to do about my apparent lack of kissing skills?"

"Um, it's not like you don't have kissing skills," Kaito disagreed, shaking his head. He crossed his legs easily, looking for all the world like he was calmly having a picnic and/or doing anything but sitting on a bed in near darkness, shirtless, with a glazed-eyed detective staring longingly at him. Shinichi couldn't decide if this was ridiculously annoying or ridiculously attractive. "You're actually pretty good at kissing."

"…Right, um, so is there an actual _reason_ you don't like kissing me?" Shinichi asked, lifting one eyebrow.

"I mean, you know how to tie a cherry stem with your tongue, right?" Kaito wondered, completely ignoring Shinichi's question. "That's a sign that you're naturally good at kissing, isn't it?"

"Yes, I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue. So can about 95% of the population," grumbled Shinichi, knotting his arms tightly across his chest in an attempt to avoid giving into temptation and tackling Kaito, because they were having a serious (?) conversation and it was _not _time to be doing that. "Also, are you dodging the question because you don't want to tell me the reason?"

"What? Dodging? Of course not," sang Kaito, a little too quickly. He slipped his hands behind his head, tilting his face and inadvertently catching the moonlight in his eyes.

Shinichi calmly decided that this was where his control snapped and he (slightly less calmly) swept in, pressing his lips against Kaito's. The magician gave a startled "mmph" of surprise that was quickly overwhelmed by a soft sigh, melting accordingly.

By the time Shinichi had pulled back, Kaito's face had flushed and he was rather short of breath, panting gently.

"Considering that you come undone after a single kiss," Shinichi whispered, trailing kisses lightly down Kaito's neck, "how can you say that you hate it when I kiss you?"

He felt Kaito smirk against his jaw as Kaito replied, "Because when you kiss me, I always want more."

* * *

Mmph. A bit on the sexy side for my usual style, but this idea wouldn't leave when I first came up with it. /sigh


	27. Closet

**Closet**

"Kid, is there a lock on the door?"

"…Somehow, I feel like I would be more likely to answer that question if your leg was between mine."

"I can't… actually move, you know. My back is already against the wall."

"Er, this is certainly... awkward."

"Yes it is. So is there a lock on the door or what?"

"Yes, there's a lock on this door. Unfortunately, it's on the outside. And from the way the door isn't moving when I push on it, it's engaged. We might be here for a while."

"Fantastic."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"_No_, Kid, of _course _it wasn't _sarcasm_. I _definitely _want to be stuck in a two-by-two supply closet with you. It's been my life ambition."

"Really? You must have a very sad life, tantei-kun."

"You – ugh."

"…"

"…"

"…Wait, how the hell did we get locked in a closet in the first place?"

"Hm. If I recall correctly, tantei-san is responsible for our current situation."

"…When we get out of here, I am going to murder Hakuba."

"Gasp! You wouldn't!"

"_Kid_."

"I'm just messing with you. Can I help?"

"...Sure."

"Great. Now I have something to look forward to."

"Right. And, uh, on an unrelated note, would it be possible for you to move your hand?"

"Huh? My hand?"

"Er, yes. Your hand is pressed against my chest."

"Hey, that's not as bad as where your leg is."

"Yes, well, it's still a bit awkward."

"Okay, then."

"Ow!"

"Sorry, sorry! What am I holding?"

"My face!"

"Okay, okay, calm down, ca – damn, tantei-kun, you have really soft skin. Is this your lip?"

"Excuse me?! Are you groping my face?"

"Technically… yes."

"Are you seri – Is that your thumb? Wait, where the hell did your gloves go?"

"No idea. Hey, do you use some kind of – _ackwhatareyoudoing_."

"I tried to move, but I kind of… tripped?"

"Um, I've noticed, considering your leg is sort of… er. And I'm sort of pinning you against a wall?"

"Yes, yes, I've noticed as well. Stop molesting my face, please."

"As you wi – ow!"

"Hey, wa – _mmpgh_!"

"…I'm sorry?"

"Kid, you just – we – I can't – we _are_ not doing this –"

"I'm really sorry, tantei-kun, there was a mop, and it kind of just hit my head and I fell forward, so –"

"– in a closet, for God's sake. Get us out, and we'll see about it."

"…Well, what do you know, there _was _a lock on this side of the door."

* * *

Again, a bit on the sexy side for me. Why are all the sexy ficlets at the end? I guess it's a… uh… prize (?) if you stuck around long enough.

Unless you don't like sexy. Then… sorry.

This was just… yeah. I was going to write an awkwardcloset!ficlet, but then I sort of… didn't end up doing that and created this OOC little… thing. Um.


	28. Falling Up

**Falling Up**

Shinichi isn't falling in love with Kaito.

He decides this as he watches Kaito sketching out a blueprint of the Ekoda Art Gallery, eyebrows creased in concentration as he makes tentative little marks. His fingers are long and slender, belying their strength and agility, and tightly raveled around one of Shinichi's pens. The end of the pen strays to his mouth, and he chews on it absently for half a second before realizing what he's doing and pulls it back out to send Shinichi an apologetic look.

The detective shakes his head with a smile meaning _it's fine _on his face, and Kaito reciprocates by ducking his head in slight awkwardness. He turns back to the paper on the desk, and Shinichi leans on one elbow to watch as he continues to observe.

Kaito flattens out the paper with his left hand (a little idiosyncrasy Shinichi has noticed over time) and jots down a note beside one of the rooms. The pen draws near his lips once more before he crosses out the note and scowls down at the diagrams.

Underneath the warm light of Kaito's desk lamp, Kaito's skin almost glows, a few shades livelier than Shinichi's own pale complexion. Shinichi silently draws the jagged chocolate shapes Kaito's bangs make against his forehead with his eyes, just barely touching the tops of his eyebrows. He traces the familiar curve of his lips, dipping down to sweep over Kaito's jawline and down his neck, into the top of his shirt.

He's truly flawless.

Kaito, appearing to realize Shinichi is mentally composing a sonnet about him, whips around to stare at Shinichi curiously. "What are you doing?"

Shinichi lifted his face off his palm and beams at him. "Just admiring you."

"Right," Kaito says slowly, as if he doesn't believe him. Shinichi almost misses the slight pink that rises in Kaito's ears, and he hides a smirk.

The magician clears his throat, setting down his pen. "Well, I'm going to take a break now," he declares, stretching. He stands up and glances at Shinichi questioningly. "Do you want anything?"

_Other than you? _Shinichi thinks. _No_.

Aloud, he simply tells him, "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Kaito nods. "Be right back." His footsteps fade off as he leaves for the kitchen.

With a soft sigh, Shinichi picks up the pen Kaito had been using. It's still a little warm. He feels a little pathetic that this makes him happy and sets it down hurriedly.

Shinichi isn't falling in love with Kaito.

Falling implies plummeting to a lower place.

Being in love with Kaito is the exact opposite.

Kaito returns at that point, carrying a cup of coffee and a bottle of juice. When Shinichi quirks an eyebrow at him, confused, Kaito coughs awkwardly and hands him the coffee.

"I thought you might want it," is all he says, and Shinichi just nods, a little stunned. He takes a sip of the coffee and finds it perfectly adjusted for him, just a hint of sugar and otherwise black.

He wonderingly looks up at Kaito, who's sitting down, and Kaito catches his gaze and smiles.

Smiles breathtakingly beautifully.

Shinichi suddenly feels like the floor has dropped out from underneath him.

Well, he thinks as Kaito refocuses his attention on the blueprint, maybe he _is _falling for Kaito.

(But he's pretty sure he's falling up.)

* * *

Just some soft fluff to cool off after the last two days.

Anyway, if you stuck through all the way to here, congratulations! We have reached the end of Ficlet February~!

Hopefully you've enjoyed this little project. I'm pretty surprised I managed to get all the way here, to be honest.

Thank you for reading, my darlings! Have a fabulous March! /wink

- Luna


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